Angular momentum transfer in interaction of Laguerre-Gaussian beams with atoms and molecules

Pradip Kumar Mondal, Bimalendu Deb, and Sonjoy Majumder
Phys. Rev. A 89, 063418 – Published 26 June 2014

Abstract

The exchange of orbital angular momentum between a Laguerre-Gaussian beam of light and the center-of-mass motion of an atom or molecule is well known. We show that the orbital angular momentum of light can also be transferred to the internal electronic or rotational motion of an atom or a molecule provided the internal and center-of-mass motions are coupled. However, this transfer does not happen directly to the internal motion, but via center-of-mass motion. If atoms or molecules are cooled down to the recoil limit, then an exchange of angular momentum between the quantized center-of-mass motion and the internal motion is possible during the interaction of cold atoms or molecules with the Laguerre-Gaussian beam. The orientation of the exchanged angular momentum is determined by the sign of the winding number of the Laguerre-Gaussian beam. We present selective results of numerical calculations for the quadrupole transition rates in the interaction of the Laguerre-Gaussian beam with an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate to illustrate the underlying mechanism of light orbital angular momentum transfer. We discuss how the alignment of diatomic molecules will facilitate exploration of the effects of light orbital angular momentum on the electronic motion of molecules.

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  • Received 19 January 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.89.063418

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Pradip Kumar Mondal1,*, Bimalendu Deb2,†, and Sonjoy Majumder1

  • 1Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
  • 2Department of Materials Science, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, India

  • *pradip3@phy.iitkgp.ernet.in
  • msbd@iacs.res.in

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Issue

Vol. 89, Iss. 6 — June 2014

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